Launches in Sunderland and Ross-shire offer decent scale farms for sale

Sizeable launches feature in the land market this week including a 437-acre arable unit in north-east England.

Described as a very unusual, commercial-scale farm, Flinton Hill Farm, near Penshaw, Sunderland, offers opportunities to both farmers and rural business operators, says John Coleman, of agent GSC Grays.

“With more than 380 acres of productive arable land, useful grazing, a sizeable yard and excellent buildings, it is an attractive proposition,” he reckons.

As well as Grade 2 and 3 arable ground there are 45 acres of pastureland, with the remainder made up of scrub, tracks and yard.

It comes with modern farm buildings and lapsed planning consent for an indoor equestrian arena.

See also: Northants farm, Dorset pasture and Worcs woodland

While there is no farmhouse, two pairs of semi-detached cottages are available as a separate sale.

This residential element offers scope to create a farmhouse from one while retaining an income stream from the others, suggests John.

Flinton Hill Farm has a guide price £4.33m and is also available in eight lots.

Ross-shire mixed holding

Across the border in Scotland, in one of the country’s most productive farming regions, an 825-acre farm that has a mix of arable, pasture and hill land, amenity woodland and shelterbelts is new on the market.

Strutt & Parker, joint agent with Landfor Chartered Land and Forestry Agency, describe Woodlands and Mountrich Farms near Dingwall, Ross-shire, as a varied farm unit which offers a rare opportunity to buy farmland in one of Scotland’s principal farming regions.

Ross-shire has a reputation for productive, high-quality farmland at low altitude and benefits from well-developed agricultural infrastructure including a number of grain, potato and agricultural machinery merchants.

Woodlands Farm © Strutt & Parker

The farmland at Woodlands lies between 100m and 270m above sea level and is graded by the James Hutton Institute as being mostly 3.2, with sections of 3.1 and 4.2.

The holding has a 70x26m steel portal frame general-purpose shed.

A derelict traditional stone cottage, known as Fluchlady, and a nearby former farm building may have development potential.

Woodlands Hill is an area combining pasture, woodland and hill ground that has a range of uses from grazing and sporting to woodland creation and natural capital projects.

It lies at between 250m and 280m above sea level and is graded as 4.2/5.2.

Mountrich Farm has mainly grade 4.2 land, two general purpose sheds with a combined footprint of 30x30m, two adjacent stores, and a field shelter.

A clawback is attached to the sale, which entitles the sellers to a clawback of 20% of the uplift in value if planning consent is granted for development on three named fields within 20 years of sale.

Offers over £3.9m are being sought for the whole, with the farms also available in three lots.

Former dairy holdings

Pantirion © Savills

In Pembrokeshire, a grassland farm is being offered for sale for the first time in more than 50 years.

Set on the coast at St Dogmaels, 250-acre Pantirion is a former dairy farm more recently used as a sheep and beef unit.

Most of the land is classified as Grade 3b with freely draining loamy soils, a combination which Daniel Rees of Savills says supports strong grass growth and reliable forage production.

“The farm includes pockets of woodland, traditional boundaries and small areas of non-agricultural ground offering scope for environmental or habitat-based options under future agricultural support schemes,” he says.

A further 80 acres is available by separate negotiation.

Modern and traditional farm buildings cover about 3,716sq m and include a redundant milking parlour and cubicle housing for 150 cows. Pantirion has a five-bedroom period farmhouse.

Joint marketing agents Savills and Nock Deighton Agricultural have set a guide price of £2.75m.

Church Farm, near Hornblotton, Glastonbury © Symonds & Sampson

In Somerset, retirement brings a former dairy farm near Hornblotton, Glastonbury, to the market.

Church Farm is a 116-acre holding with Grade 3 land and slowly permeable and seasonally wet soils recorded as slightly acid but base-rich in loam and clay.

There is a period farmhouse and traditional and modern agricultural buildings with concrete yards – four barns have full planning permission to convert to two four-bedroom residential dwellings.

Selling agent Symonds & Sampson is guiding the sale at £2.3m.